It’s been a busy week for news in Murcia with a number of topics jostling for column inches. Weather, corruption, incompetence and the British Ambassador have all fought a close contest this week, although it looks like disregard for economic indicators and ignoring air traffic stats may have pipped Camposol at the post as Corvera airport stormed in at the last minute with a winning story. It appears that EU analysts have experienced the same degree of difficulty as the rest of us during the last four years and need further clarification of exactly what is happening at Corvera before they can make a decision whether to allow the regional government to bail out the promotors and open the airport.
Full details in “Another spanner in the works for Corvera airport”.

Camposol is busy cleaning up after the floods which devastated the low lying areas of Sector D last weekend, the community spirit which is so strong on this urbanisation helping those affected to pull their homes back together. In spite of rumours to the contrary, the combination of Masa filling in the rambla and a concentrated downpour caused the damage, and our special report includes photographs from the construction of D Sector showing  how the rambla was filled in. We also have the Consorcio claim information and form for those affected.

Although residents were disappointed that the official visit of the British Ambassador was to Mazarrón town hall and not the damaged area, his presence was, nontheless, welcomed by the voluntary organisations who met him this week and had a few minutes to put across important points about issues which concern local residents.

However, at least it wasn´t raining for his visit, the weather a hot topic for conversation this week as the storms continued, Cartagena Romans and Carthaginians now debating whether to change the date of their fiestas following yet another rain-off of part of the celebrations, the city having received more rain in just two hours than for the rest of the year to date.

At least this means the BBQ cooking areas in regional parks are now open again and the fire protection services have made it through what was the driest summer since 1941 until those last few hours in September with an impressively small amount of the region calcinated in forest fires.

However, a few ears have been burning this week as scandal erupts over the latest corruption allegations, the Mayor of Librilla finally formally facing charges of taking backhanders after a six year investigation, and the Novo Carthago case in Cartagena catching fire around the edges as former regional president Valcárcel starts smouldering from a stray spark which has pulled him into the whole mess. He now joins the growing list of high profile Mayors ( and Mayoresses), politicians and businessmen who could see their careers go up in smoke as investigations continue. Surprisingly, the regional Spanish press have been thick in the middle of this one with a big stick raking hard, a far cry from their normally tactful stance behind the firemen. Probably something to do with the first cries of battle as the election campaign begins, so prepare yourself for an avalanche of inaugurations and a visit from a smiling Mayor accompanied by a hastily hired council photographer

This week we’ve also had a sighting of a good looking bird down by the River Segura, our Meerkats are now Morekats with the news of yet more tiny arrivals, a shark was born in the middle of Murcia city ( nothing to do with the floods by the way) and Murcia council has confirmed that it is struggling to deal with its parking gorillas.

There are also a couple of important stories you may like to read regarding inheritance tax, as the UK has this week simplified its inheritance tax laws, is now allowing  UK pension funds to be passed to a beneficiary at death and we have a little more information about the EU ruling affecting inheritance tax laws here in Spain.

 ( And bargain season tickets for the Cartagena Jazz Festival are on sale, with Macy Gray headlining. 70 euros for 9 big name concerts, great stuff!!!!).

 

 

What’s on Murcia
We haven´t had a fiesta here for at least a couple of days, so this next week we’re packing in two, with the Virgen del Rosario and the Virgen del Pilar. The 12th October is the Virgen del Pilar, national Spanish patron, so there is a small tsunami of activities for next weekend competing for the revenue of those who choose to make it a long weekend. Unfortunately Murcia has opted not to take Monday as a Bank Holiday, having chosen the day of San José instead, so only visitors from outside get a holiday, although it’s still expected to be a fairly busy weekend.

This next week there are major fiestas in Torre Pacheco with lots of activities, and La Unión is also celebrating its fiestas which have a huge programme of activities. There’s also an English language guided tour of the town of the 7th to accompany the fiestas. Alhama de Murcia celebrates its own feria and fiestas, with lots of free music, folk festival and activities for the whole family. El Mirador in San Javier continues its fiestas, as does Bullas, which also holds its El Zacatín artisan market this weekend with grape treading and freshly squashed grape juice on offer as well.

There are lots of bird related activities to celebrate international bird day, Los Alcázares is hosting the Surfari windsurfing, kitesurfing and stand up paddle festival on the Mar Menor, there’s a bodybuilding championships in Cartagena ( with a Brit in the seniors class), the gruelling Al-Mudanya cross country race in Caravaca and another along the beach in San Pedro del Pinatar.

Both the what’s on section and sporting sections are updated daily as more events come in, or readers may find the daily events facility useful, which shows what’s on day by day, so you don´t have to wait for the bulletin to come onto www.murciatoday.com any day and see what’s going on.

 

Spanish national news round-up
This week the situation in Catalunya has become increasingly tense, as Catalan President Artur Mas takes the conscious decision to fight the Spanish government and continues to press forward with plans for a referendum in November in spite of the Constitutional Court blocking it legally on Monday.  Although it’s now illegal even to campaign for a referendum Mas is refusing to back down, and the rift between Madrid and Barcelona widens dangerously. Separatism is a hot potato and this week Spain’s only active terrorist group ( not ETA, they’re still respecting a ceasefire )bombed a town hall in Galicia, seeking Galician independence. It’s actually an interesting little story coming a year after another  town hall was blown up in the region.

The Spanish press have had a field day this week with a story relating to the discovery that senior directors of Caja Madrid and Bankia managed to spend 15 million euros of undeclared income ( and untaxed income at that!) on ghost credit cards issued to them over a 10 year period for expenses which failed to show up in accounts until now. It beggars belief that these influential people in charge of billions of euros of our money should think that this was legal and rack up massive expenditure on clothing, restaurants, hotels and travel, but they did. Heads are rolling and embarrassed public figures paying back the money attributed to their accounts.

There have been plenty of economic stories this week, the Euribor has started the month at another historic low, raising hopes as increased mortgage activity starts to affect the property market. Unemployment figures out this week showed a slight increase in unemployment, which is normal in September, but the rise was the smallest since 2007 before the economic crisis bit. The government presented 2015 expenditure plans, with more than half of its budget eaten up by interest payments and pensions, although Spanish consumer confidence also recorded better figures than at any time since 2007.

The automobile sector is showing good signs of recovery and supermarkets are reporting a fall of more than 2% on prices as more switch to white labels rather than more expensive branded goods. And those high denomination notes are coming out from under the bed as the volume of high value notes continues to fall.
The UK is still keeping up the pressure on Spain at the Gibraltar frontier in the same week that a nuclear sub sets ecological hackles on end docking on the rock, and the offshore gaming industry in Gibraltar continues to grow as legislation which threatens the industry is put back and new companies continue to set up bases creating more local employment. The Royal family have also been in the news with the first stamps issued for new King Felipe VI.

And in Almeria British nationals are awarded moral damages compensation by the Andalucian courts ( whether theyll actually get it is another case altogether) after buying homes which they believed to be legal, but weren’t, as the shameful travesty of urban abuse in Almeria continues to damage Spain’s reputation abroad and make foreign buyers nervous about the bargain prices on offer, a tragedy for all those areas where property is now ridiculously cheap, but is tainted by cases such as this.

However, interest is stirring and this week it was reported that the Singapore government is amongst those starting to once again invest in Spanish property.

 

And footbubble has landed in Almería.

 

Lots more stories on www.spanishnewstoday.com and in the product dedicated specifically to the neighbouring Comunidad Valenciana www.valenciatoday.es

Currency round-up

This week currency exchange rates fell back slightly to just below the 2 year high which has made life a little easier for all those transferring their pensions across from Sterling to Euros.

The recent rates have made Spanish property even better value as buyers are now getting more for their money. If you still use a bank to transfer money, ask for a quote to use a money transfer service, youll be amazed how much more you get for your pounds using this method!

Click for this weeks currency round up showing the exchange rate between Sterling and the Euro.

 

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